In the current Ethernet service standards, there are no defined user network interface (“UNI”) to customer interface alarms. Instead, only extended local area network (“LAN”) management interface standards are available that communicate as a management channel. Thus, no state information from the Service Provider operations, administration, and maintenance/management (“OA&M” or “OAM”) can be relayed to the Customer in-band. In-band signaling is the sending of metadata and control information within the same band or channel used for voice or regular data transmission as opposed to out-of-band signaling, which is the exchange of call control information in a separate band from the data or voice stream, or on an entirely separate, dedicated channel.
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for providing network state information to customer equipment.